NASA Offers $1.5 Million For 200MPG Aircraft

coondoggie writes to mention that NASA's Green Flight Challenge is offering up to $1.5 million for an aircraft that can hit 200 passenger miles per gallon while maintaining 100 mph on a 200 mile flight. "The Challenge is intended to bring about the development and convergence of new technologies and innovations that can improve the community acceptance, efficiency, door-to-door speed, utility, environmental-friendliness, affordability and safety of future air vehicles, CAFÉ stated. Such technologies and innovations include, but are not limited to, bio-fueled propulsion, breakthroughs in batteries, motors, fuel-cells and ultra-capacitors that enable electric-powered flight, advanced high lift technologies for very short takeoff and landing distances, ultra-quiet propellers, enhanced structural efficiency by advances in material science and nano-technology and safety features such as vehicle parachutes and air-bags."

Comments

It is called high speed train

[pesho]

Where can I collect my reward?

A-380 halfway there

[GGardner]

The Airbus A-380 gets roughly 100 passenger-miles per gallon, cruising substantially faster and further. Surely with only enough fuel for a short 100 mile flight, no cargo, you could cram twice as many people in it, and easily get your 200 passenger-miles per gallon. Of course, chartering one, might cost more than the prize is worth...

Re:A-380 halfway there

[nizo]

I wonder if there are limits on the sizes of the passengers? I mean seriously winning this prize with little people would be way easier than the same number of 6' tall obese people. Though telling NASA "the key is to only transport little people" might not make them too happy.

Re:A-380 halfway there

[Icaarus]

Though telling NASA "the key is to only transport little people" ...

They told the world that. Seriously look up "Promised the Moon". I seem to remember a key argument in the original program was "Women are smaller".

Re:A-380 halfway there

[mcrbids]

I wonder if there are limits on the sizes of the passengers?

The FAA has determined that the "average" passenger weighs 170 lbs for the purposes of advertising how many "passengers" a plane can carry. Thus, a Cessna 172, with 4 seats, but with a fully fueled capacity of about 650 pounds. is a "3 passenger plane" when fully fueled. You can, of course, decide not to fill your tanks all the way, or you fly overloaded.

I agree with another poster, however... 1.5 million dollars is hardly worth getting out of bed for when talking aircraft. I'm going to guess, however, that if it actually IS done, that it will be some variation of a Rutan Long-EZ, since they are widely known/touted as "the plane" for high-efficiency experimental-class aircraft. That, and they look vaguely like the off-spring of the Starship Enterprise and an X-Wing fighter.

Re:A-380 halfway there

[rcw-home]

Sorry, I just read about the hangar requirements (among other things, a max wingspan of 44 feet). This obviously disqualifies Voyager and many other motorgliders. Probably the winner (as scored by their 1/((1/mph) + (2/Passenger-MPGe)) formula) will look like a cross between the two types of planes.

Do the math

[ishmaelflood]

L/D for a really good plane 50:1

plane weighs roughly 4 times as much as the passengers (proabbly lowball)

passenger weighs 80 kg

speed=100 miph=160 kph=50 m/s

so constant power required=1/50*(4*80)*10*50=3200W

Best engine efficiency ~40%, best prop ~80%, calorific content of fuel is 38 MJ/kg= .8*4*38 MJ/gallon, so fuel consumption is 3200/(.32*3.2*38*10^6) gallons per second. So in 2 hours there are 7200 seconds, so ttoal fuel used is 3200/(.32*3.2*38*10^6)*7200

So, that is 0.6 gallons for 200 miles for one passenger

Conclusion, probably do-able, it'll cost way more than 1.5 million

Whats the big deal

[dpeltzm1]

This; http://machinedesign.com/article/throw-out-the-textbooks-diesel-airplanes-are-here-0619 is a production airplane already getting 133 passenger miles per gallon per the contest conditions. its a 4 seater in current configuration but has a 950 lb load rating with full fuel. so if we assume 170 lbs per passenger 6 passengers would put you 70 lbs over max. lose 10 gallons of fuel and your back to overall weight. this would give you 200 passenger MPG of course two would have to ride in the luggage bay but you would still be within the planes limits. feel free to correct me if my math is off but if not and you decide to go do it and win, well 10 grand as a finders fee would be nice!!!